


Hollowed Bones and Raven Wings

by SparkleRaptor



Category: Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Genre: found this in an old drop box, thought i might like to share it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 12:16:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8844673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleRaptor/pseuds/SparkleRaptor
Summary: Snow White remembers what it is like to be ruined.





	

Snow White never gets the things she wants. She does what is expected of a Queen with a stunted upbringing. She curtseys and greets lords and ladies of court alike. They are like carrion birds vying for the vacuum of power that Queen Ravena had left behind. Snow has learned not to trust them; just as she knows deep inside that she is no longer as white as she once was. There is blood on her hands and she dreams of it at night. It’s hot, sticky and as red as her lips. Sometimes she drowns in it and wakes screaming. Howling like a banshee in the night. Sometimes she wakes herself before the last drop spills inside her and she stares silently at the unfamiliar ceiling in the Queen’s quarters, in the bed that once her stepmother slept. Snow’s mother and father before that. Here laid many a king and queen. 

The people wanted a savior and all they received was a broken girl instead. She never lets them know that there are cracks on her skin and ravens in her bones. 

All she does know is that she’ll never get what she wants. She will never know peace. Her kingdom will with her last dying breath. Her influence has even reached the dark forest, which has begun to grow and flourish. The dwarves say it’s because of her magic, the wise men say it’s because Ravena is gone. Snow likes to think it’s because the spirits of the forest had returned and claimed their homes no longer fearing the darkness that once inhabited this land. She never tells them that. Let her be the dream that her kingdom clings to.

The only dreams she ever had were shared with two straw dolls that lived in the north tower. When the nightmares are at their worst she sleeps there curled upon herself. She dreams of when her father was alive, and her mother. She wishes for her the most. Warm hands and a kind heart, such the like she hasn’t seen in years. 

There are expectations upon her, ones that she knew as a girl and were lost in a cage. Snow’s muscles are still weak from entropy but she finds strength in her words. Snow keeps Greta at court as a reminder of the price of power; she finds homes for the women who had their youth stolen from them. Eric, the huntsman, is always on the outside of the court, but he is there. The lords dress him to befit the presence of a Queen and she sees the weight of it on him. She pretends she doesn’t hear the whispers of the Queen’s “kept man.” Eric is not hers. Queen or not a huntsman who does not have a speck of lord’s blood can never belong to a queen. There are treaties and lands. There are lords and their sons that would take great insult to such a wedding. She pretends she doesn’t hear such things; after all she never gets what she wants. Snow doesn’t even know what it is anymore. 

She waits until the castle is dark and quiet before she walks silently as a deer in the wood into the north tower. Her friends are there, her only friends for years. They are small and fit in her hand but they hold all her hopes and dreams. 

The two straw people are scratchy to her touch and they’ve played many parts. Sometimes the more masculine of the two would be a gallant knight who would have learned about her being hidden away and come save her, the truth is most of the time his name was William, or Will when the dolls were being improper. The girl was always Rose Red. She was courageous and fought evil, enchanted bears, and sometimes she would be the one that came and saved her. A long lost sister brought together by their dreams. Will would always be with her. Snow knew it was a fit of fancy, a dying ember to hold on to in her days of solitude.

Snow lies in her old cot and watches the broken ceiling above her head. She knows even if her heart desired it her kingdom’s wounds were too great. They bleed for her. She has no doubt they would die for her if she called for it. Eric and William would be the first out of the gate, riding on their gallant steeds holding fast to their honor and her name. There was never a choice to be made here, even if she wished for one. She has a duty to uphold, and none of the lords would suffer for it. Marriage with Eric would bring nothing to her kingdom’s table. There are no ships or lands he claims outside of small home in the village. William would bring the remnants of an army and promises long past but it wouldn’t be enough for some. She can hear them behind her back, singing their words into the stone itself. 

Ravenna’s words echoing in the marble of the castle, on the posts of her bed _I was ruined by a King once._

Snow wonders if a King will ruin her.


End file.
